Once news hit that we were returning stateside, the infamous Creekside Clique started imagining how they could reunite over the holiday period. Best friends from working at their summer camp in their college days, the 4 guys spent the summer of 2017 on an epic bike adventure, and haven’t all been together since then. Fortunately, Jackson had already planned a family trip to Mexico, and extended the invite to the greater Creekside family, and we feel so lucky to have been able to come down to Casa Celeste for 5 magical days on the Pacific Coast in the most epic villa (infinity pool included).
It was an adventure to get there, located a 2.5 hour drive north of Puerto Vallarta airport, through local towns and bumpy roads through the middle of nowhere to get to the isolated community near Platanitos beach. In the comfort of our taxi van, our drive was a lot easier than Zack’s late night arrival self-driving in Mexico for the first time later in the week! Arriving in the dark, we were already wowed by our surroundings and knew we would be waking up in paradise.
It was awesome to reconnect with Jackson, Phil & Zack, who Jelley had only previously met 1-2 times each, and also meet the gals (Kate & Stine) for the first time, along with Laura & Rory who were amazing additions to the crew for the weekend, in such a serene setting. We spent the week in our own bubble together, being catered to by the talented local Vicky preparing all of our traditional Mexican meals and showing us how to make margaritas and tortillas from scratch. We didn’t excel at either, and are grateful for her sharing her talents with us, there was never a hungry moment! We were spoilt for choice with daily guacamole, tortillas, chilli, huevos rancheros just to name a few.
The days generally followed a similar routine - down to cross the lagoon on Standup Paddleboards (or SUP) in the morning to the isolated Playa Las Tortugas, swimming in the ocean, walking along the sand, the boys surfing on whatever ‘boards’ they had (the highlight being an inflatable croc) and exploring the river on the SUP (not going too far into the mangroves, with Jelley’s fear of crocodiles and inexperience SUP-ing stopping us going too far). We would then return to the casa for a brilliant lunch of tostadas or ceviche, made fresh by our brilliant chef Vicky, jump in the pool, then play games until the stunning sunset lit up the sky.
It’s hard to pick a favourite sunset as they were all spectacular, but the highlight for us was heading across to Playa de los Tortugas (Turtle Beach in English) to watch the baby turtles be released into the ocean at sunset from the nearby sanctuary. With a 1 in 1000 chance of survival, the local sanctuary programme protects the eggs from predators once the mother turtle lays them, and once they hatch, releases them to the ocean with the hope they will one day return to breed more of these endangered species.
The incredible wildlife was a surprise for us on this trip, in addition to the turtles we were lucky enough to encounter:
Humpback whales spouting and breaching right in front of us on their continued migration, visible from our pool and enhanced views with binoculars
An unreal number of pelicans swooping regularly overhead, then diving into the ocean at sunsets
Spotted ray
Giant lizard
A little nervous about heat and humidity, we didn’t need to worry with the consistent weather of a low of 18, and high of 28 degrees celsius (64 / 82 fahrenheit). It was the perfect climate, and we loved being able to hang out in shorts & tshirts 24/7.
One of the favourite games of the creekside clique is a dice game called ‘Snappa’ wherein teams of 2 opposing players sit at opposite ends of a long table and throw a die over a certain height with the goal of either landing the die in their opponents cup or having the die hit the table and bounce over the scoring area on the floor. The defending team attempts to catch the die one-handed after it hits the table, but before it touches the floor. The warmup games of ‘Snappa’ culminated in an Olympic-style tournament on the last day, with Jackson and his first-time player, Mama Laura, making it to a hotly contested final with the Tempura Shrimps, Luke & Phil. It was an intense finale heated games, but Tempura Shrimps walked away victorious.
It was a blast playing various games with everyone, the funniest finale game was a heated game of "Fish Bowl" on the last night which is a game where teams conduct increasingly difficult variations of the game of charades for points. The last round players must do charades while covered by a bed sheet (2 words - Very Difficult).
We were really impressed with everyone in the group’s Spanish skills, and it has made us reflect on our initial desire when planning this trip to improve on our own abilities. We will be sure to prioritise this later in our travels, and our confidence continued to grow in Puerto Vallarta.
We’re so lucky to have had this experience to deepen connections with old friendships, form new ones, and spend time together in such a stunning paradise. A massive thanks to Jackson, Laura, Kate & Rory for letting us crash their family holiday, it was an absolute blast to share it with you all!
With those working and studying returning to the States, the funemployed 4 (us, Phil & Stine who are also adventuring for a year between jobs & study), stayed on and ventured down to the touristic town of Puerto Vallerta.
We didn’t really know what to expect, staying in Zona Romantica, but we were pleasantly surprised to be staying around 10 blocks back from the beach and main tourist zone, but in a more local area with cobble stoned streets and colourful buildings. Our airbnb ticked all of the boxes despite being a bit noisy with ongoing construction (including on top of the building), and being sandwiched between 2 main highways (we had a near miss crossing the highway one day!) The pool was host to our own mini pool party one afternoon, but not quite as picturesque as in Casa Celeste.
Puerto Vallarta, and Zona Romantica specifically, is a very well-known travel destination for the LGBTQ community, with drag shows nightly and both couples and singles ready to hit the nightlife. A little different than what we were there for, but still a fun, lively vibe to be part of.
Our intentions for our extra time together were set on night 1 over a stunning sunset by the pier, and we’re pleased to report we exceeded all intentions during our time here:
Local flavours
Sunsets
Swim in the ocean
Go out on a boat
Luke wanted to find a new word he really liked in Spanish
A classic tourist experience awaited us as we were talked into a ‘snorkelling trip with 3 stops, including stopping at Los Arcos National Park’. Departing from our local pier, instead of the marina 10km away, and the cheapest of the options on offer, we were sold, but kept our expectations low. Perhaps the ‘Barre Libre’ (open bar) should’ve been a warning sign.
Once safely onboard, we were promptly advised we wouldn’t be dropped off at Playa de los Muertos at the end of our trip, and would in fact be finishing at the Marina. As we cruised past Los Arcos National Park (“some people stop to snorkel and dive here, but we won’t be”), we arrived at our snorkelling spot for the day. After around 2 minutes and 30 seconds in the water, “Vamos!” and we had to get back aboard. A sales pitch continued to purchase additional activities for the entire journey until we reached the beach for lunch, and we stuck to our ground and enjoyed the beach and food, before returning to the boat.
On our cruise back to the marina as the sun was starting to set, we were blown away with several up close encounters with humpback whales. We were close enough to see the barnacles on the tails, and 1 group of 7 males chasing 1 female were super entertaining to watch. This was such a highlight for us all to encounter so close, and so special, only to be interrupted by the boat guide with “what are you doing? The whales are gone man, the party is downstairs”. We couldn’t help but laugh as we enjoyed the upper deck to ourselves, seeing whales resurface and a large pod of dolphins. Downstairs, the open bar was going strong, conga lines and sunburnt tourists showing off their dance moves.
All in all, it was a very cheap nature cruise for us, we shared lots of laughs and have amazing memories with the whales.
The ‘Local Flavour’ intention was met not only through the location of our airbnb, but mostly through the excellent cuisine we continued to discover. Street tacos, with all prepared freshly in front of us, even the tortillas, never failed to disappoint, ranging from USD 50 cents-$3 (for a large burrito or torta (Mexican sandwich). Phil had a great recommendation of the “Churro Guy’, who sets up a pop up stand outside the church from 4pm until sold out, with freshly made churros at 2 Mexican Pesos each (USD 10 cents). We never went wrong with the local cuisine, and it was eye-opening how affordable this was, spending no more than USD10 per day on some of the best food we’ve had! Jelley also enjoyed the 50 cent Corona cervezas.
We also shared so many great sunsets together on the beach, with near misses nightly of the swooping birds. While we did swim in the ocean, the local waves were dumping from a steep dropoff, and it wasn’t the safest spot for it, but we ticked this off the intentions list!
The last intention, Luke’s word, was discovered during the touristy marketplaces - many a t-shirt with the saying ‘Pinche Covid!’. We'll leave you to google translate that one. :)
It was really special to share quality time with Phil & Stine, we loved this opportunity to stay on together in PV and experience another part of Mexico. Hoping we can meet up again somewhere on the road!
We continued to stay in Mexico and enjoy the warmth and great food for a little longer at a cute boutique hotel on the riverside. A regular local was a giant Mexican Spiny-Tailed Iguana who kept us company at breakfast time by dropping leaves and branches in our food, unaware of its own size. Our days were spent poolside in the heat of the day, with morning and evening walks in the cooler temperatures, exploring the neighbourhood and great views from steep streets.
It was great to have some time to ourselves to reflect on our journey so far, consider what our next moves will be moving into 2022 and decide what is next for us. The adventure will continue back in the US to explore some great National Parks on a camping/roadtrip in the American SouthWest, as the weather may or may not allow, and we can’t wait to explore some of the bucket list places in this unique part of the country for the first time.
Until then,
- A Kiwi and A Cali
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